Chapter 15
Unexpected Visitor
The slave found himself stirring to the conversation of two people talking and the creaking of a door. Down the stairs came Lucious, a lead in hand as he clipped the choke chain on and then cinched up on the lead. Vegeta was forced to come to hands and knees, the chain wrapped around the upper part of his throat. The Saiyan tucked his head lightly as Valknar came down to unlock the chain from the black collar.
"So I get to use the slave around my place for two months?" Lucious asked as if the slave upon the chain were not capable of speaking.
"That's what the deal is. I'll rent it to you for that time period during which you may do as you please with the beast so long as you don't give it pity, nor try to set it free. Other than that, go ahead and treat it as you will. The slave should know it's place by now." Valknar then gave him the control to the collar. "If it gets out of hand, just give it a zap, the thing should calm right down."
Lucious nodded and then with a firm tug upon the lead, the chain would only get tighter until the battered slave caught up upon feet. Then he would allow his gaze to the ground and gave a heavy breath. Rented now to a person that desired his services, he simply did not have the strength to fight the Master that held him on a short chain lead. When they got to a cart, he would be tied off to the cart, right next to the footrest where the Master could keep an eye upon him. A crack of the whip brought his attention sharply to the Master as the cart began to move forward.
After a good hour's run, they would come to yet another grand mansion and the slaves would come to a stop, Once stopped, Lucious would get off the cart and take Vegeta into a room where the slave would be tethered to a post until the cart and slaves used for pulling it were taken care of. Once that was finished, Lucious would return and it was then that the Master would place on the heavy hobbles around the slave's ankles and then would give the slave a sound blow from a club. He cared not that the slave had not done anything to warrant a beating, but he relished in it for now.
Vegeta found himself again unable to catch his balance and forced to the ground. His jaw throbbed under the heavy clout and his thoughts reeled in the sudden wash of pain that seemed to start fresh once more. Trying to rise up, the hobbles restricted his movements and it was then that the Master turned from the room. Vegeta struggled to rise to his feet again, finally managing by the time this new Master came back in. Taking a couple restricted steps, he tried to see what was going to be wanted of him.
Lucious spun around with a steel spiked club and again this time would give another heavy clout to the slave. Once Vegeta was upon hands and knees once more, the Master would then tighten the lead upon the choke chain collar and it was then that he would take him to a room. Lucious only turned and grinned, his eyes cruel upon the slave.
Clipping the traces between two posts, Lucious would tie one set of reins to the heavy steel bar before him, Then taking up a whip and the longer reins, Lucious would then take seat on the makeshift seat upon the other bar. With a lash of the whip, the Saiyan would lean into the harness, his feet setting, his entire form lowered to a forty-five degree angle. Pushing into it, the slave would begin the heavy work upon the grindstone and yet no thought was given to injuries, nor to how long he was worked.
For the two months, he went around the mind numbing circle so often that the stone where he'd been walking was wearing a rut. When it was time to go, he was again tethered to the cart where he would run along side The slave though hesitated when it came time to go back inside his Master's home. With his gaze lowered, he would follow Lucious down into the he was shackled once more by the collar to the wall. He would not see the light of day for a week and when the door opened again, he narrowed his gaze at the sight of Syn and Valknar. One was enough of a challenge, but both together would be suicide.
Valknar and Syn would come down the stairs when the slave backed to the wall and turned sideways to them, remaining in a sitting position with his head propped against the cold stone. His knees were brought to his chest and his arms wrapped about them. The tip of the whip would tap his jaw, making him lift his head up a bit. Syn grinned lightly. "It seems the slave is learning who the Master is."
The Master nodded. "It seems that way. Slave, I permit one question from you and only one. You have one minute to ask."
Vegeta thought for a moment before asking. "Actually I have one for Syn."
The lash would snap down upon the slave harshly several times. "That's Master Syn to you, beast. Or in your case, just plain Master." Valknar corrected severely.
Cringing under the heavy blows, he repeated once more. "I have a question for Master...Syn" Vegeta restated tersely, only again to receive another sound beating.
Valknar narrowed his eyes with cruel delight. "Speak in third person only slave. You own nothing, not even yourself, nor your name. You will speak in third slave from here on, understood?"
When the rain of blows ended, Vegeta closed his eyes quietly. "Yes Master." He wearily replied in answer to the statement. How he hated it here, but so long as two were here, he knew the strength of them combined would not be a good outcome. "This slave has a question for Master." He tried once more, fretting another beating.
Syn grinned lightly. "Speak 2706."
Vegeta gave a light breath of relief when he was finally answered instead of whipped. "Why was this one sent to Sarm and the Priest Kings of Gor?"
Syn only gave a harsh smile with his lips curling at the corners as a clawed hand would grip the slave's jaw, nearly breaking skin. "Because, I found out what you are as a Universal Warrior. To make sure you did not have contact with anyone from the outside, you were sent to sit in that cage until a time of my decision. They also were intrigued of your specie, so I let them study you for their own gain. Sarm was quite impressed with your reflexes even in a drugged state. However they seemed to realize you serve a greater purpose than one of just a petty whim of 'being a Man'. No, you have something else going for you slave, something far greater don't you?"
Vegeta shook his head. "Ths one does Master." He admitted, but what it was, he would not reply fully. Nor would he even let on that he was fighting a silent war against the both of them and the city of Jronia, alone. Instead he adjusted and then laid his head once more against the stone wall. However the Saiyan would not remain there long as a leash clipped on to the collar and then he was taken outside to again work the fields. Once outside, he found a set of shackles with no more than six inches of chain between cuffed to each ankle.
The days would seem to pass as he worked between field and home when he seen another person come walking up the path. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes focused on this woman walking up the drive. It was Blue. She ran for him and Vegeta literally jumped back, his guard raising defensively. "Who are you? What kind of sick joke is this?"
Blue's smile would fade as she looked at him. "What do you mean sick joke?"
Vegeta growled heavily. "I killed you at the tournament, how did you come back?"
Blue smiled. "I had a friend that knew some techniques. They brought me back and healed me. You on the other hand look as if you'd been through the proverbial wringer."
Time would seem to fly as they talked of times passed, when she looked at the collar around his throat. Reaching out and touching the steel band, she shook her head. "I remember when that collar seemed a bit large on you, I could wrap both hands around it and still not choke. Now it seems very snug to the throat. You've become more muscular and lean in my absence."
"I've had no choice. Life has been very harsh while youve been gone. The kids are dead, I thought you gone I've had a Mistress and three Masters. It's just been...difficult to say the least." Vegeta stated quietly
Blue looked at him in shock. "You mean, Blu and Kilimajra did not make it? What killed them?"
"There was no known cure for the poison and they were hours from death. Kilimajra requested it, and being who I am..." Vegeta let it drop off there. He had not been able to grieve their deaths properly and the mention of it seemed to wrench open the fragile healing he had done.
His wife must have seen it as her sapphire colored eyes would lower to the ground. "I need time."
Vegeta nodded lightly as she took up and left. He would hold out for her as he went back to work upon the fields. Valknar on the other hand was soon on top of the slave, giving him a savage beating. The Saiyan though twisted and contorted under the blows until his feet were well tucked against his ribs and with one strong double kick, he would back his Master off of him. Vegeta stood up quickly, backing off from his Owner with a savage gaze in the black eyes.
Valknar only laughed. "What are you going to do beast? You know the pain that collar can inflict with just a touch of the button. More, you know that collar will never come off to your own accord. You need the original papers signed setting you free for that collar to come off. I do love tormenting you slave, you entertain me continually with your futile efforts to defy that which you cannot possibly run from. Come now slave, you can make it easier on yourself by just doing as told."
The slave listened to his Master's every word, not liking the sound of it, but he also knew that he would have no choice. Gazing to the forest about a mile away, he knew he could vanish in the woods if he had been allowed to. However, between his current position and the edge of the forest lay an invisible barrier at the property lines. The Saiyan turned back to Valknar, knowing that as the slave, he would not be able to break that barrier. It was a harsh sting to his dignity and pride, to be confined like one would an animal.
The Master would continue. "You know you can't run slave. Come on, make the right decision for once and be obedient. I am the Master, you the slave, 2706. As a beast, you are contained to the point you cannot escape my grip upon you. I am not careless or haphazard as your other Owners have been slave, you would do well to remember that. I let you think you can outsmart me, when in fact I have been outsmarting you."
As the Saiyan listened, he clinched tightly his fists and then growled as he began again renewing his struggles against the black collar around his throat. His thoughts raced through his mind as he pulled and clutched at his collar, trying to rip it from his throat. His strength would increase dramatically as he fought it, but it remained firmly locked around his throat. As the struggle continued, he found himself again painfully shocked and this time the collar cinched up on his throat, choking him. It wasn't long before the Saiyan found himself unconsious.
When he would wake, he would find himself back within the mansion upon the cold floor of the basement, his head pounding, his throat sore, his mouth dry. The scrape of the heavy chain was torture to his ears as he groggily stirred. So that was the cruel twist upon that collar. It was rigged to choke and shock until he passed out so that he would have no recollection of the fact that he'd been moved.
"Why?" He whispered coarsely, barely audible to the Owner that loomed over him. "Why don't you just kill me instead of insisting on this degrading fight?"
Valknar crouched down by the slave and grinned. "Because you have the key to the city slave. You hold a power in this City that should not be allowed by any slave, and so far, thankfully nothing has happened save for a few minor scuffles. More than that slave, you alone can clinch Jronia in a fist of fear or relax them by your decisions. Dare I say, you slave, have become more of an influence than any previous ruler in the history of this City. You alone are the key to Jronia, and now that I have you effectively contained, I hold that key."